“The president tried to reprise the spirit of 2008, but the preoccupation of this week's nominating convention has been to portray Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and Republicans as mummies from the crypt,” The Journal editors write.

“The second-term agenda he offered was a diminished and vague version of what he offered in 2008: more government spending disguised as ‘investment,’ more subsidies for green energy, more regulation for other parts of the economy.”

Obama conveniently left out his goals of protecting healthcare reform and implementing one of the largest tax increases in history, the editorial says.

The president has said that if he’s re-elected, humbled Republicans will have to concede to his terms for a grand fiscal bargain. That’s quite presumptuous, given the disdain he has shown for Republicans, the editors write.

“The more likely forecast is for more gridlock and rancor,” they say. An anonymous Obama adviser recently told The Journal that the president “won’t make that mistake [of working with Republicans] again.”

A more humble Obama would have produced a stronger economy and would probably now be in a commanding position for re-election, the editorial says.

“He gambled instead that he could use the economic crisis as a political lever to achieve his progressive policy goals, and he now finds himself struggling to be re-elected with a campaign based almost entirely on savaging his opponents. Americans who are disappointed with Transformers 1 aren't likely to enjoy the sequel any better.”